“The Crusade for a Christian Military”: Are US Forces Trying to Convert Afghans to Christianity?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

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The military is denying it allows its soldiers to proselytize to Afghans, following the release of footage showing US soldiers in Afghanistan discussing how to distribute Bibles translated into Pashto and Dari. We speak to Air Force veteran and former Reagan administration counsel Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and journalist Jeff Sharlet, author of a Harper’s Magazine article on “The Crusade for a Christian Military.”

The former prime minister of Afghanistan Ahmed Shah Ahmedzai has called for an investigation into allegations that US soldiers are trying to convert Afghans to Christianity, saying: “This is a complete deviation from what they are supposed to be doing.”

His comments come after a report on Al Jazeera showed footage of soldiers at Bagram air base discussing how to distribute Bibles translated into Pashto and Dari. The US military is denying it allows its soldiers to proselytize to Afghans. The military claims the Bibles shown in the video had been confiscated and destroyed and were “never distributed.” Admiral Mike Mullen told a Pentagon briefing Monday: “It certainly is, from the United States military’s perspective, not our position to ever push any specific kind of religion, period.”

The Pentagon has also sharply criticized Al Jazeera for releasing the year-old footage which was shot by filmmaker and former soldier Brian Hughes. Military spokesperson Colonel Greg Julian said: “Most of this is taken out of context. This is irresponsible and inappropriate journalism. There is no effort to go out and proselytize to Afghans."

On Tuesday, Al Jazeera released unedited footage of the US soldiers’ bible study in Bagram to counter the Pentagon"s allegations. These excerpts from the unedited video show military chaplain Captain Emmit Furner leading the discussion on the definition of the US Central Command’s General Order Number One that explicitly forbids active duty troops from trying to convert people to any religion.

Excerpts of Al Jazeera footage.

I’m joined now by two guests who have closely followed this story. Jeff Sharlet is a contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine and joins me from Rochester, New York. He is author of “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” which is coming out in paperback next month. His latest article is the cover story of the May issue of Harper’s magazine. Its called “Jesus Killed Mohammed: The Crusade for a Christian Military.”

We’re also joined from Albuquerque, New Mexico by Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force veteran and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. A registered Republican, he served as legal counsel to the Reagan administration for three years and is the author of “With God On Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military.”

We spoke with Colonel Greg Julian in Afghanistan and invited him on the program but he declined to join us.

Jeff Sharlet, contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine. He is author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, which is coming out in paperback next month.

Mikey Weinstein, Air Force veteran and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. A registered Republican, he served as legal counsel to the Reagan administration for three years. He is the author of With God on Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military.

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